A Hong Kong real estate tycoon made headlines two years ago when he offered a $65 million bounty to the man who could win his daughter's heart and marry her. In an open letter today, the daughter says she hopes he can accept that she is indeed a lesbian.
Cecil Chao, a billionaire property developer who himself has never married, made the offer after learning that his 34-year-old daughter, Gigi Chao, had married her partner, Sean Eav, in France. Homosexuality is not a criminal offense in Hong Kong, but same-sex marriage there is not legally recognized.
Last week, the elder Chao reportedly increased his offer.
"My wish is: she [will be] married with children who can inherit the hard work of my life," Chao told The Edge, a Malaysian business magazine.
After the initial "marriage bounty" in 2012, Gigi Chao, who is a model, arrived at her management company's building one day "to discover a crowd of Casanovas camped out in the lobby," according to Hong Kong Tatler.
The magazine writes:
"Bearing boxes of chocolates and bunches of red roses, the jet-setting lotharios had flown in from Africa, the Middle East and Europe in an attempt to win her heart — and her father's dowry."